lay away

To ask a shop to keep an item while you pay for it over time.

• Can I lay away this coat?
• We laid the sofa away until we could pay for it.
• He is laying away a bicycle for his daughter.

How to use it: lay something away (She laid the coat away and paid a little each week.)

Similar words: reserve

Common phrases: lay away something, lay something away

To keep something so that you can use it later.

• We lay away food for winter.
• She laid some money away for emergencies.
• They are laying away supplies for the long journey.

How to use it: lay something away for something (They laid some food away for the winter.)

Similar words: set aside, put away, save

Common phrases: lay away something, lay something away

To put a dead person’s body in a grave.

• They laid her away beside her husband.
• The family laid him away in the village churchyard.
• She wished to be laid away near the sea.

How to use it: lay someone away in something (They laid him away in a quiet village cemetery.)

Similar words: bury, lay to rest, inter

Common phrases: lay someone away, lay away someone